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Hi cornish Gems, would love any info you have on blueberry cultivation re reccommended literature etc we have relatively wet land and grew a bog blueberrie last year that seems to thrive even when it is standing in water.
Jackson
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Blueberries - cultivation, propagation, etc
Started By
jackson
, 06 Jan 2011 14:56
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#2
Posted 14 January 2011 - 12:07
Cornish Gems
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- Book Owners
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- 1,597 posts
Lord and Lady of the Manor
- LocationCornwall (formerly Devon)
Hi Jackson - we do not have any proper literature regarding blueberries. This land was being offered for sale as a blueberry plantation and we were only interested in it because the price was right for the amount of land - the blueberries were a possible bonus as far as we were concerned. After all, we could always sell the plants!!
Since then, we have become more interested in using them as a source of income. We have 5 different varieties planted as crops and then 3 others as specimens. When we first searched the net for any information most of it seemed to come from America.
We have since discovered that only one of our varieties (Nui) is not doing very well - indeed, there are lots of empty spaces were the plants used to be - we suspect that this is because the climate is wrong but that if we could put them under cover the remaining bushes might make a good recovery.
The other varieties (Bluecrop, Aurora, Spartan, and Draper) appear to be very hardy. The bushes appear to be low maintenance and although the acidity of our soil is nowhere near good, they seem to be doing very well. An economical way of improving the acidity is to use pine needles or apparently rhubarb leaves do an excellent job. If you can get hold of some pine shavings or sawdust, then you could use that as a slow way of releasing 'acid' into the soil while the plants are being established.
You mention bog blueberries - where did they originate? Did you buy them commercially? We ask because the bottom parts of our meadows are definitely damp all the year around!
According to one catalogue, Bluecrop can stand a bit of drought without problems, so it may be that it will not do so well on your land - having said that our bushes seem to be doing alright and our soil has a layer of clay below the topsoil. Spartan is very inaptly-named - the harvest was far from being spartan! The other varieties are just as described in catalogues.
Whilst blueberries are self-polinators, they perform better if there is more than one variety - cross-polination improves the harvest and enhaces the individual flavours.
Cornish Gems
Since then, we have become more interested in using them as a source of income. We have 5 different varieties planted as crops and then 3 others as specimens. When we first searched the net for any information most of it seemed to come from America.
We have since discovered that only one of our varieties (Nui) is not doing very well - indeed, there are lots of empty spaces were the plants used to be - we suspect that this is because the climate is wrong but that if we could put them under cover the remaining bushes might make a good recovery.
The other varieties (Bluecrop, Aurora, Spartan, and Draper) appear to be very hardy. The bushes appear to be low maintenance and although the acidity of our soil is nowhere near good, they seem to be doing very well. An economical way of improving the acidity is to use pine needles or apparently rhubarb leaves do an excellent job. If you can get hold of some pine shavings or sawdust, then you could use that as a slow way of releasing 'acid' into the soil while the plants are being established.
You mention bog blueberries - where did they originate? Did you buy them commercially? We ask because the bottom parts of our meadows are definitely damp all the year around!
According to one catalogue, Bluecrop can stand a bit of drought without problems, so it may be that it will not do so well on your land - having said that our bushes seem to be doing alright and our soil has a layer of clay below the topsoil. Spartan is very inaptly-named - the harvest was far from being spartan! The other varieties are just as described in catalogues.
Whilst blueberries are self-polinators, they perform better if there is more than one variety - cross-polination improves the harvest and enhaces the individual flavours.
Cornish Gems
#3
Posted 14 January 2011 - 13:48
Piglet
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- Book Owners
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- 337 posts
Wurzel
Hi Jackson - we do not have any proper literature regarding blueberries. This land was being offered for sale as a blueberry plantation and we were only interested in it because the price was right for the amount of land - the blueberries were a possible bonus as far as we were concerned. After all, we could always sell the plants!!
Since then, we have become more interested in using them as a source of income. We have 5 different varieties planted as crops and then 3 others as specimens. When we first searched the net for any information most of it seemed to come from America.
We have since discovered that only one of our varieties (Nui) is not doing very well - indeed, there are lots of empty spaces were the plants used to be - we suspect that this is because the climate is wrong but that if we could put them under cover the remaining bushes might make a good recovery.
The other varieties (Bluecrop, Aurora, Spartan, and Draper) appear to be very hardy. The bushes appear to be low maintenance and although the acidity of our soil is nowhere near good, they seem to be doing very well. An economical way of improving the acidity is to use pine needles or apparently rhubarb leaves do an excellent job. If you can get hold of some pine shavings or sawdust, then you could use that as a slow way of releasing 'acid' into the soil while the plants are being established.
You mention bog blueberries - where did they originate? Did you buy them commercially? We ask because the bottom parts of our meadows are definitely damp all the year around!
According to one catalogue, Bluecrop can stand a bit of drought without problems, so it may be that it will not do so well on your land - having said that our bushes seem to be doing alright and our soil has a layer of clay below the topsoil. Spartan is very inaptly-named - the harvest was far from being spartan! The other varieties are just as described in catalogues.
Whilst blueberries are self-polinators, they perform better if there is more than one variety - cross-polination improves the harvest and enhaces the individual flavours.
Cornish Gems
Hi Cornish Gems
Are you currently using the blueberries as a source of income? If so, is this a very short season and do you sell wholesale or retail? Piglet
#4
Posted 14 January 2011 - 14:55
Cornish Gems
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- Book Owners
-
- 1,597 posts
Lord and Lady of the Manor
- LocationCornwall (formerly Devon)
The 5 varieties we have so far produce berries at different times - first is Nui, then Draper, Bluecrop, Spartan and finally Aurora.
By the time we moved on to the land last year, there was only Spartan left with berries ready for picking, but the Aurora berries were nearly ready.
There was so much for us to do, that we only sold to people we knew (large ice-cream containers each). This year, we hope it will be a different story as we are lucky to have a local shop which believes in selling local produce and we intend selling at the gate, etc. Having tried picking ourselves, we are exploring other ways of getting the job done.
We are of course open to any offers whether it be for work or for produce. One thing we are going to do is remove some of the plants from the ends of the rows as there is not really room between them and the hedge for turning the tractor, etc, and once we have replaced a couple of dead/missing plants, we intend selling the rest of these off.
By the time we moved on to the land last year, there was only Spartan left with berries ready for picking, but the Aurora berries were nearly ready.
There was so much for us to do, that we only sold to people we knew (large ice-cream containers each). This year, we hope it will be a different story as we are lucky to have a local shop which believes in selling local produce and we intend selling at the gate, etc. Having tried picking ourselves, we are exploring other ways of getting the job done.
We are of course open to any offers whether it be for work or for produce. One thing we are going to do is remove some of the plants from the ends of the rows as there is not really room between them and the hedge for turning the tractor, etc, and once we have replaced a couple of dead/missing plants, we intend selling the rest of these off.
